Process and apparatus for modifying material



Aqg.8, 1961 J. M. LEACH 2995,450

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MODIFYING MATERIAL FiledJan. s, 1960. 3 Sheets-Shqet 2 INVENTOR.

.ployed for example eookng, coking have been "by the pressure impresscd r'i'tearit that any variation in the pressure, however great ing, eold curing, polymerizing,

ete., for the purpose of explanation in corineetioh erer'iee should he had in which;

The present inven tion relutes to a substance modifying -incess and apparats; and more particularly relates to a brocess and pparat's whereby absolute control of the .tetnperature and the actual heat imparted to the materil being modified can be established exactly originally United States Patent aiid aecurately maintained unifrinly throughout the full priod of the modifying operation.

In modifyihg apparatus and processes heretofore emthe rate and degree of dependent upon the rate of flow of the material through the cooking apparatus as established upon the material. 'Ihis has r small, has resulted in an inevitable variation in the flow which prevehted tlie material from being uniformly.

eooked becausesome presure variations can never be voided in any systen containingmaterials which are subject to coagulation; gelation; degeneration, reduetion ibtemperture. pressure or other changes. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substance modifyi'ng process and apparatus in which the ate of fl ow can bemade entirely independent of the pressure; in which the amount of heat applied to the ii1aterial can be accurately controlled; in which a con- -llolledpressure can be maintained with ether a high or low rate of flow; and in which the rate of flow can be- "ccurately controlled and scheduled even though pressure iriations ciecur.

It is a f'urther object of for example cookingin a closed vessel, in which the maten'al is positively removed from the walls of the vessel without the aid of externally connected operators bther than the material itself.

It is a s till further object of the present invention to provide a modifying for example, cooking apparatus which is unusually simple in nat1ire and which can be clearied in a minimum len;gth of time.

Other objects of the pr esent invention will beciome apparenttb those sklled in the art as the deseription of preferred form is disclosed. and apparatus can be used to ways, such as heat curacidifyng, hydrolyzing, it wi il-be destribed with a cookng operatioti. detailed descriptiori of the invention, refthe following specification taken in corinection with the acco'mpanying drawings, throughout which like reference characters referjto like parts andthe invention in its now Althougli the process modit'ymaterials in many other For a more FI 1 is a diagrammatic view of the apparatus of the present i'rivention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a cooking element of the pr elsentirivention as exemplified by one modification" tliereof;

'FG; 3 is a cross sectional view of a cookingelement FIG. 4 is a dig rarii matie view of one applicable type the present invention to provide a process and apparatus for modifying materials,

or anyother change in physical or chemical qualities due FIG. 1, comprises a into sections 54 and 56.

Patenl:ed Aug. 8, 1961 ice .FIG. 5 is adiagrammatic view of an alternate type of heating niechanism for the cooking elements.

The apparatus of the present invention, referring to heating kettle heated by any desired souree (which is not shown) andprovided with a quiekly removable top 12 which can be suitably fastened into position and a eonventional stirrer 14. The kettle 10 is provided with an outlet pipe having aconventional cutof valve 13 which feeds into any desired type of pump 15 provided with an outlet pipe 18 which iiieludes a throttling valve 16 and leads to a cooker 20 havingan outlet pipe 22 provided with a throttling valve 24. A bypass 26 leads from the output to the input ide of the pump and is provided with a conventional adjdstable relief valve 28. A suitable pressure gauge 29 is connected to the pipe 18.

The cooking element 20, as shown in cross sectin FIG. 2, includes a chamber 30 having removable end headers 32 and 34 which are suitably held in assembld position by any desired type of fastener (not shown). The chamber 30, which is preferably cylindrical in shape, is provided with means for heatng the contents of the chamber which may be any desired type of heatiitg means such as an electrical heater; a gas heater or a steam jacket which is one type shown for the purpose of explanation. The steam jacket consstsof a casing 36 which is supplied with steam by an inlet pipe 38 and from which the steam is exhausted by means of a pipe 40..

A shuttle member 42, which preferably consists of a body 44 provided with a eentral opening 46, is psi tioned for reciprocation within the chamber 30. The shuttle member 42 is preferably formed with sharp edges- 48 and 50 and a centra] annular recess.52 which exterids around the Outer periphery of the shuttle 42. The diam eter'of the edge members 48 and 50 is just suflciently smaller than the interior diameter of the cliamber 30 to permit the shuttle member 42 to move badkwards and forwards within the chamber 30 while maintaining stiug scraping contact with the inside surface of the chinber 30.

The inletpipe 18 is preferably branched as shown The branch 54 terrninates in an opening in the side wall of the chajmbei 30 to provide an inlet port 58, and the branch 56 terminates in an opening in the opposite end of the side wall of the chamber 30 to form inlet port 60.

The outlet pipe 22 is bianched as shown with one branch 62 terminating in an openitig in the side wall of the :hamber 30 as shown to form an utlet port 64' and the other branch 66 terminates in an opening in the opposite end of the sidc wall of the chamber 30 to firm an outlet port 68.

A rod 70 which passcs through the opening 46 in the shuttle member 42 is connected at tio end toa cross rod The widths of the sleeve valves 74 and 78 are selected relatve to the positions of ports 58 and 64 and and 68 so that whnthe sleeve valve is positioned t"the extreme right as shown in FIG. 2, it eloses port 68 and opensport 60; and the lengtli of the red and the ela tive positioning of the two Sleve valves thereon: is such sired prelminary temperature.

shown in FIG. 1.

58 and opens port 64.

In the practice of the procss of the present invention.

- material to he cooked 88 is filled into the kcttle and is heated while being stirred by the stirrer 14 to any de- When it is desired to finally cook the material the pump 15 is started, the relief valve 28 is set at the desired maximum pressure which pump 15 is to create at its output, the valve 13 is opened and the valve 16 is opened suflciently to permit the heated materialto flow intdpipe 18 under any desired pressure and the valve 24 is adjusted to permit the material to leave the chamber at a rate which will establish the desired cooking time.

Referring to FlG. 2, the high pressure materal from pipe 18 fiows to branch 56 and port 60 and then to the interior of chamber 30 where it impnges upon the right side of the shuttle member 42 and forces it to the left. When the shuttle member 42 contacts spring 82 it compregses it until there is enough force built up in the spring acting against the fixed member 80 to move the rod 70 and the valve members 74 and 78 to the left. The action of the spring is such that once the rod and valve members are started in motion they will continue to move until they reach the end of their stroke; at which time the ports 64 and 60 will be closed and.the ports 58 and 68 will be opened very rapidly. When this occurs the 'material will no longer flow through port 60 but will flow through branch pipe 54 and through port 58 instead and th'epressure will cause the shuttle member42 to move to the right as shown in FIG. 2, and the material which is at that time in the chamber 30 will be exhausted through port 68 and branch pipe 66 to the outlet pipe 22 at which time valve 24 is openedthe amount desired and will permit the material to pass to any desired fi nal disposition.

When the shuttle member 42 moves to the right sufficiently to contact spring 86, it will compresg spring 86 acting against stop 84 and will build up enough pressure to move the rod 70 and valves 74 and 78 rapidly back to the position shown; at which time ports 68 and 58 will be closed and ports 60 and 64 will again be opened. This will permit the high pressure material to flow through port 60andagain move the shuttle member 42 to the left which will force the material then in chamber 30 ahead of it and out of exhaust pipe 62 into pipe 22 as before.

Prior to the beginning of the cooking operation, steam was admitted into the steam jacket through pipe 38 and exhausted at any desired rate through pipe 40 in known manner so as to heat the chamber 30 and its contents to any desired temperature controlled by any suitable type of thermostatic control, for example, of the type later described.

lt will be noted that the cooker of the present invention subject5the contents of the chamber 30 to the heat of the steam jacket for a period while the contents being cooked are unde r pressure and moving the shuttle member 42 in one direction and also while the shuttle member 42 under moiement from pressure on the opposite side is exhausting the former pressure material through the, outlet pipe, which enables the chamber 30 to serve double d uty in that the contents are heated through both a forwarcl' and backward stroke of the shuttle member 42.

The flow of material into chamber 30 and movement of the shuttle member 42 causes vigorous agitation of the material so that all of it is subjected to substantially the same amount of heat. However, where absolute nn formty of cooking is required, a second cokng element 23 can be employed in series with the first element as In this instance the first material to enter which is the last material to leave the first cooking element is the last material to enter and the first maof heat during the double cooking operatibn.= Cook ng element 23 is identical in construction with the first cooking element 20. The valve 24 is opened wide When two cooking elements are used and a suitable throttling valve is placed after the second cooker.

During the movement of the shuttle member 42 the sharp edges 48 and 50 eflectively scrape off any material which tends to adhere to the heated surfaceof chamber 30 and puts it back in c irculation before the material has an opportunity to burn due to the largearrioiint of heat being added to the material. Becauseit is possible to apply any desired pressure to the shuttle member 42 by adjustment of the pressure relief valve 28, it is impossible for the shuttle member 42 to stall in its movement.

In the modification of the cooker shown in FIG. 3, the pipe 18 connects to two branch pipes and 92 which connect to a rotary valve 94 which is provided with a central through port 96.

The port 96 is connected alternately to pipes 98 and 100 depending upon the position of rotation of the valve 94. The exhaust pipe 22 is connected to branch pipes 102 and 104 which are connected to a rotary valve 106 which is provided with a central through port 108. The port 108 alternately connects with pipes 110 and 112 depending on the position of rotation of valve 106.

The pipes 98 and 112 are suitably connected to an end header 114 which is suitably attached to a charrtber 116 which is preferably in the form of a cylinder.

The pipes 100 and 110 a're suitably'connected to an end header 118 which is removably attached in any suitable manner to the cylinder 116.

A shuttle member 120 substantially identical withthe shuttle member 42 with the exception of the opening 46 is fitted for reciprocation on the interior of the chamber 116 and has the Same function and operation as the shuttle member 42 except that t does not operate any valves.

A heating means, which can be any desired heating mean's but is shown in this modification as a steam jacket 122, surrounds the chamber 116 and is supplied with steam under suitable pressure from any desired source by pipe 124 and the steam is exhausted from the steam jacket by a pipe 126.

The cooking element just described, which is identified as 128 in FIGS. 3 and 4, is provided with any suitable valve actuating mechanism which will index the two valves 94 and 106 in movements of 90 degrees, for example; as shown in FIG. 4." In the example shown, the valve actuating mechanism consists of a sprocket 130 connected to the valve 94 and a sprocket 132 connected to the valve 106, and these sprockets are suitably connected together and to a third sprocket 134 by a small timing chain 136. The sprocket 134 has a ratchet 137 connected to it which is intermittently operated by a pawl 138 connected to a lever arm 140 which is connected by a linkage 142 to the armature 144 of a suitablc solenoid 146. The arm 140 is held in its uppermost position by a suitable tension spring 148 connected to any fixed point 150. Thesolenoid 146 is suitably electrically connected to any well known type of electrical timer 152 which is in turn connected to any suitable electrical source 154. The timer 152 is of the type which 'can be set to encrgize the solenoid 146 at desired intervals f rom a fraction of a minute up to 10 minutes or more. These electrical timers are normal articles of commerce and do not need to be described further in detail.

The valves 94 and 106 are connected togcther and with the sprocket 134 by means of the timing chain 136 so that in one limit position of the arm 140 the valve 94 is positioned with its through port 96 and the valve 106 is positioned with its through port 108 in the relative position shown in solid lincs in FIG. 3. When the solenoid 146 is energized by the timer 152, the armature 144 moves downwardly and the link 142 moves downwardly which movesthc arm 140 and the pawl 138 engages the ratchet is energized only pipe 90, through the port prjs ition of its movement 1t time pressre material again fiows 137 so as to rotate the valves 94 and 106 an even 90 degrees and tion shownjiri dotted lines in FIG. 3. The solenoid 146 for a short time and upon deenergization the spring 148 retracts the arm 140 and the armature 144 intothe upper position where it is ready for actuatigp of the valves into another90 degree position upon thg n ext energi2ation of the solenoid 146 by the timer in the operation of the process andequipment shown in FIG. 3, the pr eliminafy healing of the material to be cooked is carried out exactly as when the cooker 20 is utilized andthe cooker 128 is used either singly or position t'1e ports 96 and 108 in the posit.wp in serres exactly as desbribed above in regard to copker 20. The timer 152 is set so as to operate at any desired interval to rotate the valves 94 and 106 intermittently as explained above. Starting, for example, with the valves 94 and 106 in the relative positions shown in solid lines in FIG. 3, the

material to be cooked under 15 fiows to pipe 18 into branch 96 in valve 94, into branch pipe 98 and into the interior of chamber 116 where it moves the shuttle member 120 to the right as shown in FIG. 3.

pressu re from the pump When the shuttle member 120 reaches the extreme right cause of the positions of the respective valves 94 and 106. The materral beng cooked in the chamber 116 dgesflow however, through pipe 112 and through port 10,8 into theexhaust pipe 22 and to its desireddestinan When shuttle member 120 reaches its extreme point of movementto the left, -it rests there until timer 152 agaii1 causes the rotation of the valves 94 and 106 through angle of 90 degrees as prcviously explained at which through pipe 90, through port 96 and pipe 98 into the interior of chamber 116 and rrioves the shuttle. member 120 to the right. this movement the material then being cooked t lows through pipe 110; port 108 and branch pipe 102 t o the exh'aust pipe 122 as before.

During the operatron of eooking element 128, the

valve 28 preferzibly is set so that pump 15 exerts sutligient pressure on the shuttle merriber 120, or both shuttle members 120 when two elements 128 areused in series, to cause shuttle member 120 to reach the end gf its strok as raprdly as possible so that a minimum Qf time is required to fil-l and empty the chamber or ghambers 116. In this marmer substantially all of the material heated uniformly and the scraping actio n of shuttle member 120 is vigorus and very etective.

The amount of steam entering chamber 36 or 128 and which determines the amount of heat imparted to the material being cooked in the chamber 30 or 116 can be controlled by any desired thermostatic control, such, for

exarnple, as the two therinocouples 156 and 158 which are suitablyconnected to a controller 160 which can be a recording type of thefinostatic controller which can open and close the valve 162 which controls the flow of steam t o themlet pipe 124 or 38; depending on which rnodifi cation of the cooker is being 'used. This type of thermostatic control is a well known item of commerce,

--can he pu rchased on the open market and requires no "further detailed description.

A highly desirable electrcaltype of heater for the cooking elements 20 and 128 is shown in FIG. and consists of an elect rical high frequency induction type -heater coil 164 suitably connected to. an eletztrical power source 166 which is energized by a suitable power source 168 and is under control of thermocouples 170 and 172.

This type of induction heater is also a well known article of commerce and requires no further description.

During the operation of the heater shown in FIG. 5 the induction .col 164 very rapidly heats the metal of the cooker which may be of the type shown in either FIG. 2 or 3; and this rapd application of heat is controlled by the regulator 166 so as to impart the exact amount of heat to the contents of the cooker. Becuse the heat can be applied and eliminated so rapidly, the heating of the .contents can be controlled with unparalleled accuracy and within extremely narrow limits of temperature variation occuring within the material being cooked. This enables the cooking to be controlled to a degree not possible heretofore.

At the end of a cooking operation, in order to clear the cokers of all material, the valve 16 is closed and a valve 21 (sec FIG. 1) is opened which leads to a compressed air pipe 19. The compressed air will cause the shuttle members 42 and 120 to function the same as when a liquid is used and will electively clear the cook ers of all liquid without contminating any of it. When a general cleaning is desired, water is admitted to kettle 10 through pipe 23 and the cookers are operated the same as when cooking is taking place and the shuttle members and the hot water will thoroughly clean all of the equipment.

The process and apparatus of the present invention can be used for modit'yng, for example, cobking many different materials; for example, soups, broths; gelatin; milk products; ice cream mixes; jellies; fruit syrups and concentrates; vegetable concentrates; tree gum concentrates such as gum acaeia; seed oil concentrates such as linseed oil; sugar containin-g prducte such as corn syrup cane or beet syrup, hard boiled candies such as 'p0ps, hard halls and coatings for filled pieces; fondant; caramel; soft boiled cahdies such as gum drops and jelly fillings; starchcontaining materials such as-mayonnaises, puddings; piefillings, paper coatings, textile sizings, adhes-ives,

brewing pastes and many other substances heretofcre found diflicult to cook.

In order to illustrate the many advaxitages of the process and apparatus of the present invention its superiority in the cooking of starch base jelly or gum candies will be considered. This particular item is selected bewuse it isproduced in large commercial quantities.

Many -attempts have been made to improve on the conventional gum candy cookng process which consistedin cooking in large open kettles which was very time consuming and required great skill and experienc on the part of the operator. The outstanding difliculty ehcountered in mprving the oooking process for the starch and sugar slurry trom which this confection is made was the tendency, which is eharacteristic of all starch containingsubstanccs, to stick to the walis of the co0king vessel when high tcmporature fust cooking was attempted which caused the thin layer of material adhered to the vessel walls to burn and discolor and foul the taste of the final product.

One attempt to overcome this.difliculty was te subject the slurry to high heat in a closed vessel and rapidly scrape the vessel walls by blades driven by power delivered through a shaft extending through the vessel walls.

This necssitated the use of a large expensive piece of equipment and the starch rapidly accumulated in the sharft seals at the bearings in the vessel Walls -which neces sitated frequent cleaning which was diticult -aricl time consuming and required the efto1ts of skilled personnel. The cost of such equipment was also well beyond the means of many small producers.

Another attempt to overcome this diticulty was to utilize the old starch cookingor dgesting procedure of injecting live steam directly into the slurry. An inevitable eonsequenoe of this was introduction of the many foreis ubstarees always found in steam whioh is generated in the boiler water into the slurry which gave the final confection an otl-taste and also introduced a cloudy appear ance.

A third procedure was 10 pass a small cross sectional stream of slurry very rapidly through a cooking vessel heated suflciently to finallyeook the slurry in the very short time it toqk for the passage through the vessel.

The slurrywas nt exposed to the walls at the vessel long enough for the stzirch to adhere to the walls or for the su'gar te caramelize. This procedure overeame the objeclions to the other procedures but required that the vessel temperature be Iowered below cooking values before the end of the run in order to avoid burning ef the residue in the vessel whieh resulted in some waste of material.

With the process and apparatus of the present nvention t is impossible for any foreign material to be introduced into the eooking operation at any time and the uncerta.in

heating action of live steam is also avoided. The heat instead is at all times uniformly and eleanly transrntted through a metallic wall whieh is eontinually mechanically scraped clean of any deposit whieh might impede the orderly progress of heat transfer and also miglit cause discoloring and spoiling of the taste of the final product. All ofthis is accomplished with a very simple, durable and self-cleaning apparatus which is very low in first eest and maintenance. Furthermore, it is now possible to control the modifying time of any desired substance with absolute accuracy and without regard to pressure variations in thesubstancc being modified because the time of exposure to the heat een be controlled to a split sec- 0nd by the timing mechanism and the amount of heat applied in any givcn interval can be accurately controlled by the temperatre regulating meehanism. In addition, all of the material being treated ean be cooked uniformly without any waste, and the equipment can be cleaned by merely adjusting valves without dsassembly f the equipment.

The invention having been deseribed, what is claimed 'l.- Aprcess of mannfacturing starcl1 base oonfection ery whih comprises directing a stareh base eonfectionery staiting material under pressure into a closed chamber, applying heat to the material in the chamber, moving a scraper member along the wall of the eha.rnber by means requiring any regular of the pressure created by the material impnging therepressure of the matcrial impnging upon the scraper memher, and discharging the cooked material from the chamber.

4. A process of modifying material which comprrses direeting the material to be modified into a closed chamber under pressure. exerting a modifying influence upon the material inthe chamber, moving a scraper member alohg the wall of the ehamber by the pressure of the material undergoing modification, and discharging the modifiecl material trom thechamber.

5. A pr oeess of co0kirig starch base eonfectionery which comprises directing the material to be cooked into a closed ch1imberunder pressure, applying heat to the material iri the chambet through the walls of the chambe r, mving a scraper member along the walls of the chamber by the prssure of the material, and discharging the cooked material from the chamber,

walls of the chamber, moving a seraper along the wall of the chamber by the pressure of the material, and discharging the cooked mnterial from the chamber.

7. A process of cooking material comprising directing the material into a closed chamber, applying heat to the material, movng a scraper along the wall of the chamber by the pressurc of the material, timing the length of time of application of the heat to the material, nd discharging the cooked material from the chambel'.

& A cooker eomprising a chamber, means for directing material into the chamber under pressure, means for ex hausting the material from the chamber, means f0r applying heat to the material in the chamber, and means operated by the pressure ofthe material in the ehamber for scraping material from the chamber wall and activating the means for directing material into the ehamber and the means for exhausting material from the chamber.

9. A cooker comprising a chamber, means for directing material into the chamber under pressure, means f0r exhausting material from the chamber, means for applyng heat te the material in the chamber, and means operated by the pressure of the material fox scrapng the wall of the chamber..

10'. A cooker'eomprising a chamber, means for directing malerial under pressure, valve means for controlling the entrance to and exit of material from the chamber,

means for receiving material from the chamber, and amember operated by the pressure of the material f0r scraping the walls of the chamber.

11. A cooker comprising a chamber, means for directing material under pressure to the chamber, means for receving material from the chamber, valve means for controlling the entrance to and exit of material from the chamber, and a member operated by the pressure of the material for scraping the wall of the chamber and activating the valve means.

12. A cooker comprising a chamber, means for direct ing material to be cooked to the chamber, means for receiving material from the chamber, valve means for eontrolling the entrance to and exit of the material from the chamber, a member operated by the material for scraping the walls of the chamber, anda timing means for operating the valve means.

13. A cooker comprising a chamber, a pressure creating means for directing material to be cooked to the cha'mber, means for receiving cooked material from the chamber, valve means disposed within the chamber for controlling the entrance t0 and' exit of the cooked mate rial from the chamber, means for applying heat to the m aterial in the chamber, and a member operated by the pressure of the material being cooked to scrape material from the wall of the chamber and also operate the valve means.

14. A cooker comprising a chamber, a pressure creating mea ns directing material to be cooked to the chamber, means for receiving material from the chamber, valve means for controlling the entrance to and exit of material from.the chamber, a member operated by the pressure of the maerial to scrape material from the chamber wall, zmd means f0r operating the valve means.

15. A cooker comprising a chamber, a pressure creating means for directing material to be cooked to the ma te rial in the chamberand a scraper opcrated by movement of he material to scrape the wal] of thechamber.

17. A cooker comprising a chamber, means for directmoved by the material for s craping material from the wall of the chambe r.

1 18. A c0oker Comprising aphamber, means f0r direct ing material to the chamber under pressure, means for receiving material from the chamber,valve means fox controlling tha entrance to and exit c f material from the chamber, a. high frequenty inductive heater for the chamber, a member moved by the material for scraping ;the wall of the chamber, and electrical timing means for opjerating thevalve means.

19. A cooker comprising a chamber, means for direct ng material to the chamber under pressure, means for receiving matcrial from the chamber, valve means fox conrollng the entrance to and exit of material from the chanber, a steam jacket forheating the chamber, a membcr moved by the materal for scraping thc wal! of the chamber, and elcctrical timing means for operating the valve mear'1s.

Refeieuces Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING STARCH BASE CONFECTIONERY WHICH COMPRISES DIRECTING A STARCH BASE CONFECTIONERY STARTING MATERIAL UNDER PRESSURE INTO A CLOSED CHAMBER, APPLYING HEAT TO THE MATERIAL IN THE CHAMBER, MOVING A SCRAPER MEMBER ALONG THE WALL OF THE CHAMBER BY MEANS OF THE PRESSURE CREATED BY THE MATERIAL IMPINGING THEREAGAINST, AND DISCHARGING THE COOKED MATERIAL FROM THE CHAMBER. 